Mauricio Dubón got the game-winning run with a single in the 10th inning, and closer Josh Hader pitched two scoreless innings as the Houston Astros, leading the AL West, won their season-high eighth consecutive game by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Pedro León moved from second to third base on Jeremy Peña’s fly ball to deep center off Garrett Cleavinger (7-3) to start the 10th inning. Zach Dezenzo struck out, but Jake Meyers and Dubón got Houston’s second hit of the game. The Rays also had two hits.
“We got the sweep,” Dubón said. “It was a battle, though. But it felt pretty good.”
Hader (5-6) struck out three batters as Houston finished an 8-1 road trip. The Astros (65-55) increased their division lead to 2 1/2 games over Seattle, which lost 3-2 in 10 innings at Detroit.
“A heck of a road trip,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “We took care of business.”
Tampa Bay has lost seven of its last nine games and fell to 59-61.
“We got to find a way, we’re not scoring runs,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Score runs two ways. Either getting a lot of hits or getting timely hits. None of that is coming for us right now.”
Tampa Bay has scored two or fewer runs in nine of its last 13 games.
Houston was hitless until Peña homered for the second game in a row, leading off the fifth inning against Zack Littell.
Littell left after five innings and 68 pitches because of his season workload. He retired his first 11 batters, struck out three, and walked two.
Astros starter Ronel Blanco allowed two hits and struck out four in six scoreless innings. He remains winless in six starts.
Blanco’s final batter, Brandon Lowe, hit a 106.5 mph liner that Blanco deflected with his glove, causing a sore left index finger.
“He came in sore, lost some feel to it,” Espada said. “He did get some X-rays; came out negative. He’s good to go.”
